Thursday, August 25, 2005

The Con-dome

Somebody was asking about a shot of the capitol exterior... well... here's what it looks like right now. The gold leaf is being redone on the dome exterior and it's wrapped in scaffolding and plastic.... so it looks like the dome is wearing a... uhhh... prophylactic device. Not much to look at these days. It should be quite spectacular when finished. The gold leaf was put back on several years ago after many years of crappy paint... but the job was botched and the glue holding the gold on leached out causing dark streaks to appear. So now it's being redone and we hope it will be stay beautiful for many years to come. It really is quite spectacular to see the dome with new gold on it shining in the sun. I'm looking forward to seeing that again.

Yep, that IS a good title. Are they telling how much it is costing this time to put the gold leaf back on the dome? I don't remember how much it was the last time, but I remember thinking it was an obscene amount.

Rick,I haven't posted a comment -- but just wanted to tell you I enjoy your photo blog featuring West Virginia. It promotes a positive vision of our state -- when often it is portrayed more negatively in the media.

As for the Capitol project. There were all sorts of comments that I heard around Charleston when the dome was first covered. For example, one of my favorites during the legislative session was that we were protecting the state's citizens from the actions of the senators and representatives.

One idea that I had when the project was first suggested is that someone from the state's public relations office should contact Trojan and discuss whether they would be willing to foot the bill for the repairs in return for the "cover up" to look like a Con-dome and a nicely done banner mentioning trojan. I bet they would have gone for it. However, I can't imagine the firestorm from those who oppose such things as family planning and protection. Heck - don't they say any media is good media.

I host another WV blog that focuses on Health Care Law Issues. Is is called Health Care Blog Law. I thought you might want to check it out. I've watched the growth of WV blogs over the last year or so and would love to get a group of WV bloggers together -- maybe for coffee at Taylor Books. I'm just down the street from Taylor Books and would love to get together and meet in person some of the other WV bloggers.